Manufacture of golf-balls.



No. 843,846. PATBNTBD FEB. 5, 1907.

A. B. & J. MAONEIL.

MANUFACTURE OF GOLF BALLS.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 23. 1906.

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TE STATES PATENT FFIOE.

MANUFACTURE OF GOLF-BALLS- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 5, 1907.

Application filed May 23,1906. Serial No. 318,391.

To all who/n it HMLZ/ concern:

Be it known that we, ALFRED BUCHANAN MAoNEIL and JEANNIE MACNEIL,subjects of the King of Great Britain, both residing at 414; Victoriaroad, Crosshill, Glasgow, Scotland, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in the Manufacture of Golf- Balls, of which the followingis a specification.

At present it is usual to make so-called rubber-cored balls with a hardcenter or nucleus and wind it round about with rubber thread or tape andthereafter inclose this core in a hard shell or covering of guttaperchaor like material. In the manufacture of golf-balls in accordance withour invention we do not follow this procedure; but we take an elasticsubstance, such as rubber, and mold or shape it in any usual andwellknown manner into the form of a solid ball or core, and we then bindrubber thread or tape very tightly and evenly round the exterior of thecore. If rubber tape is used, then before it is wound on the core thelast foot or so of the tape is soaked in ordinary rubber solution or anequivalent elastic solution and allowed to dry. If rubber thread isused, then the windings are partially completed with it and finallycompleted with a piece of rubber tape treated wholly or partially withsolution, as aforesaid. Finally we heat the ball so formed or theexterior thereof to such an extent as to render the tape with the rubbersolution thereon soft, and we place the ball in a golf-ball mold andsubject it to pressure. The ball is allowed to remain under pressureuntil it is set or cold, when it is removed from the mold and painted,colored, or otherwise treated in the usual manner. e have no hardexterior shell or cover, as usual.

In order that our said invention may be properly understood, we havehereunto appended an explanatory drawing, which shows a golf-b all asmanufactured in accordance with our invention.

On the drawings, Figure 1 is an outside view of the golfball. Fig. 2 isa view, partly in section, showing the internal construction of theball.

In carrying out our invention we prefer to adopt the followingprocedure: WVe take a thin ribbon or tape of vulcanized rubber andmeasuring, say, five feet long by one inch broad, and we place one endof this tapesay to the extent of one footin ordinary rubber solution andlet it soak for a few hours. Then we withdraw the ribbon from the rubbersolution and hang it up to dry for a few days. Te thereafter take asolid and vulcanized rubber ball I) of from about fifteen-sixteenths toone and one-half inches in diameter and weighing from about one -fourthounce to one ounce avoirdupois to form the core and wind tightly andevenly over its entire surface the foregoing prepared vulcanized-rubberribbon or tape a, commencing the winding with the end of the ribbon thathas no rubber solution on it. IV hen all the ribbon or tape has beenwound upon the core, it can be held in place by fastening it in anysuitable manner, such as by passing the extreme end of the ribbon underone of the windings. We finally take this wound ball and heat theoutside thereof to such an extent as to render the outer windings of thetape and the rubber solution thereon soft, and we then place it in agolf ball mold and subject it to pressure. Owing to the fact that theouter windings of the ribbon, with the elastic solution thereon, are ina soft condition when the ball is subjected to pressure in the mold, thesolution combining with said outer winding fills up the interstices ofthe mold and forms a homogeneous outer skin or covering 0, having theusual markings d. o allow the ball to re main in the mold until it iscold or set, when it is removed and painted, or instead of the forgoingprocedure we may take a solid and vulcanized-rubber ball of, say, aboutone inch in diameter and one ounce in weight avoirdupois and windtightly and evenly all over its surface a suitable length ofvulcanized-rubber thread. hen this has been done, we take a thin ribbon,preferably about an inch broad and about one to two feet long, ofvulcanized rubber which has been previously soaked in a rubber solutionand allowed to dry, and we wind this ribbon tightly and evenly all overthe convolutions of the thread. WVe finally heat the ball so formed andplace it in a golfball mold and press it and allow it to remain underpressure until it is set or cold in the same manner as with the firstdescribed method of procedure.

Of course the length and breadth, as well as the thickness, of theribbon or tape or thread may be varied to suit the kind of ball it isdesired to produce.

The central ball or core may be made not only of solid vulcanizedrubber, but of other suitable and well-known elastic substance and ofany suitable size. In practice we find that rubber answers extremelywell; but rubber substitutes or other suitable materials of an elasticnature may be used.

The elastic solution used may be the ordinary solution employed in therubber trade or any well-known equivalent solution. This solution may bemade any desired color.

Having now fully described our invention, what we claim, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. The process of manufacturing golf-balls which consists in taking asolid and elastic core, winding tightly and evenly thereover vulcanizedrubber windings a portion of which is treated with elastic solution andthen heating the ball so made until the outer windings and the solutionbecome soft, then placing the ball in a mold and subjecting it topressure, and allowing it to set, then removing and finishing.

2. The process of manufacturing golf-balls which consists in windingabout a core, vulcanized-rubber thread, then winding thereon rubber tapetreated with an elastic solution, then heating to render the outerwindings and the solution soft, then placing in a mold and allowing thesame to cool and set under pressure whereby the homogeneous windingsconstitute the outer cover.

In testimony whereof we affix our signatures in presence of twowitnesses.

ALFRED BUCHANAN MAONEIL. JEANNIE MACNEIL.

l/Vitnesses PETER MAGNEIL, FRED MIDDLETON.

